Milk Teeth Keepsake Box

Yep! You read that right! I made a box…to keep my child’s teeth in…when they fall out *shivers*

I don’t do loose teeth. I didn’t do it when I was a child and I don’t know how I am going to look at my children with gaping swollen holes in their faces lol. Just keepin’ it real, here.

I did a major face-plant on cement when I was 4, which knocked teeth out, broke others off, caused me to bite a 1cm chunk out of my lip and ended with 4 stitches. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that that moment was the beginning of my phobia with teeth. And I’m not lying when I say that I thought about this day (my child losing his first tooth) when I was in the hospital hours after he was born. “He’s so cute! I love him! Oh god, he’s going to grow teeth that will wiggle and fall out!”

My Mom kept my teeth which I always thought was totally weird. I vowed to not be that parent who does this but from the moment our little Turkey was born, I have this desire to collect the things that fall off him: his cord clamp, the first cut lock of hair and suddenly, his teeth? What’s wrong with me?

In a desperate effort to come to terms with the inevitable, I decided to make a project that will “cutefy” this morbid milestone. I found these adorable Tooth Passports from Letterfolk that allow you to fill out the entire story of how the tooth was lost: what you were doing, where you were, how you felt! You can even name it! Cute right?! See? Progress!

And because I can’t just stop there, I decided to design a box around the passport that will keep it together with his teeth. He has seen me building it so I told him the story of how the tooth fairy will give his tooth to a baby who needs it and then when said baby loses the tooth, the tooth fairy will bring it back for us to keep. Seems legit, right?

So, we made the entire box with our laser cutter. I designed the lid to house the passport and the box itself to hold his pearly whites. It opens using a swivel hinge and snaps closed using two tiny magnets! I felt-lined the bottoms of each hole and intend to put some cotton in the hole when the tooth goes in.

And to finish it off, I put our son’s constellation (yes, we’ve given each child a constellation. I can just feel your eyes rolling.) in the bottom corner, to signify who’s teeth are kept within. All in all, I’m feeling prepared and I’m going to do my best to hide my fear when it happens. Here’s hoping it won’t be that bad, right?!